Illegal drug importation case: John-John, others ''no show'' in probe

Former Cebu Vice-Governor John Gregory Osmeña and eight other respondents in the illegal drug importation case that the Philippine Drug Enforcement has filed against them failed to appear in the preliminary investigation that the panel of prosecutors from the Department of Justice in Manila scheduled yesterday.

The DOJ panel headed by Senior State Prosecutor Archimedes Manabat was forced to defer the conduct of the investigation until May 1 upon the manifestation of Osmeña''s counsel, Edgar Gica, that they have not received a copy of the complaint.

Gica, who also represents respondents Rorela Villegas and Rowena Roldan, said that his appearance yesterday was only based on the newspaper reports. According to him, they were not served a copy of the subpoena much less they were not furnished a copy of the complaint.

Although, there was no preliminary investigation conducted, Gica was able to make several manifestations and requests to the investigating panel.

On of these is his request for the panel not to label the case in the name of his client. Gica said, Osmeña should not be the focus in this case because he is not even the consignee of the P3.6 billion worth of pseudoephedrine smuggled into Cebu more than three years ago.

Gica said, it is unfair for his client to be the focus in media interviews especially that Osmena''s father, John Henry ''Sonny,'' is a candidate for senator in the May 14 elections. He said the case should be labeled in the name of Mike Cummings, who claimed to be the consignee.

Gica also tried to convince the members of the panel that the case is politically motivated because it was filed days after it was reported that the former vice governor is running for congressman in the first district.

But, the panel immediately shut him down, saying that it is beyond their concern. Manabat said that they are conducting an investigation because there was a complaint filed by PDEA.

PDEA legal officer Lydia Bundac said they have properly furnished all the respondents copies of the complaint based on their last known addresses. In fact, the other respondents, Susan Bernardo and Joebert Cuesta, received their respective copies of the complaint.

Cuesta was the only respondent who appeared in yesterday''s scheduled investigation, but he was without a counsel to assist him. He filed a motion asking for an extension to file his counter affidavit as he is yet to find a lawyer for his defense. Bernardo on the other hand was represented by Lawyer Augusto Macam.

The other respondents of the case who were not represented yesterday were Cummings, Dirk d'' Hultz, Leah Banal, Malou Milagros Legaspi, Michael Emilio Sanchez, and Alexander Michael Castro.

The panel has given all the respondents until May 1 to submit their respective counter affidavits. Manabat said they will also assess, based on the counter affidavits of the respondents, whether or not it is necessary to conduct a clarificatory hearing on that day.

Manabat said they will be back in Cebu on that day to receive the counter affidavits of the respondents.

Although, the scheduled preliminary investigation was postponed, the panel made use of the time for the witnesses of the PDEA to identify their affidavits and have it subscribed before them. Osmeña and the other respondents were charged for violating of Section 4 of the Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2000. Aside from the illegal drug importation charge, PDEA also filed charges against them for violations of Section 5 or delivery and transportation, Section 9 or chemical diversion, section 26 or conspiracy and section 32 or violation of the Dangerous Drugs Board regulation. Cuesta was the president of the Coastside Ventures Incorporated, the consignee of the 1,710 kilos of pseudoephedrine shipment which arrived in Cebu on March 5, 2004 from China, while Villegas and Roldan were among the incorporators of the company that imported the illegal drugs.

Cummings on the other hand represented the Coastside Ventures Incorporated in the import documents.

Elements of the PDEA regional office in Central Visayas tagged Osmeña as the alleged local contact of the Australia-based syndicate. PO2 Rey Robert Villarete and Jude Udtohan, who were part of the team that conducted a confidential mission codename "COPLAN LATVIA" identified the former vice governor as one of Filipino contacts of the syndicate.-(/NLQ)